Polish Open-Faced Sandwich (Zapiekanka)

Polish open-faced sandwiches (also known as French-bread pizzas) are popular street food in the bigger cities of Poland.

They're known as zapiekanki (plural) or zapiekanka (zah-peeyeh-KAHN-kah), which is singular. The word zapiekanka comes from zapiekac, which means "to bake," and is the Polish culinary term for a casserole.Most zapiekanki sandwiches start with French bread, sautéed mushrooms, cheese, and ketchup, but there are Hawaiian-style zapiekanki with pineapple, Greek-style with olives and feta cheese, Italian style, and many more.

What makes the open-faced sandwich authentic is a thick drizzle of Polish ketchup across the top, no matter what cuisine the zapiekanka is trying to emulate.